The previous day, Hines-Allen, the standout 6-foot senior forward who will play hoops at Louisville next winter, found out that she had been named to the McDonald's All-American Game, becoming the first Mountie to compete in the prestigious national scholastic all-star game.

"It really means a lot," Hines-Allen said following Montclair's 70-20 victory over University last Thursday. "I was so excited, so excited. I knew I had a chance to make it, but I didn't know for sure. But it's great, because, I mean, Montclair's not a small school, but it goes to show that you can play here and you can do big things. You can go as far as you want to go."

During her remarkable four-year career at MHS, Hines-Allen has gone quite far indeed. Prior to Thursday's contest, she was awarded a plaque for breaking Krystina Collymore's all-time MHS career scoring record. She has earned all-conference and all-state accolades, blossoming into a sought-after Division I college basketball recruit.

And according to head coach Bianca Brown, she's also grown and matured along the way.

"It fills me with so much pride to see the things she's done here," said Brown, who took over the Mountie program just prior to Hines-Allen's freshman year. "I'm just honored to have been able to go through the journey with her, and I'm excited to see even how much better she can be. Our whole school, our town, they can really be proud of Myisha."

Hines-Allen's reward will be a trip to Chicago's United Center - home of the NBA's Bulls - for the April 2 McDonald's all-star game, which will be televised nationally on ESPNU. She will be one of the 12 players on the East All-Stars; Hines-Allen and Blair Academy's Sadie Edwards (UConn commit) are New Jersey's two representatives in the game.

focusing on the ect

Over the weekend, Montclair (14-4) cruised to a 69-45 victory over Livingston in the Essex County Tournament's Round of 16, led by 18 points from senior center Ciara Stewart and 15 points apiece from Hines-Allen and Alexandria Kerr.

The Mounties, the tournament's No. 2 seed, advance to the quarterfinals, where they will host No. 10 Newark Academy this Saturday, 2 p.m., at the Midland Avenue gym.

The Minutewomen (12-2) boast one of Essex County's top players, sophomore Jocelyn Willoughby (25.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.8 steals, 3.5 assists, 1.1 blocks per game). And though Newark Academy plays in the Super Essex Conference's third division, the Colonial, the team has outscored its opponents by nearly 22 points per game this season.

The Montclair/Newark Academy winner will move on to the semifinals next Saturday, Feb. 15, to face either No. 3 seed East Orange or No. 11 Orange.

sec-american title still in reach

For Hines-Allen, the only damper on her superlative week came last Wednesday (Jan. 29), when Montclair was upended by powerhouse Shabazz, 73-49, in Newark in the first of at least two meetings this season.

The Mounties pulled within two points of the Bulldogs, 32-30, in the third quarter. But the home team answered with a big run that snowballed into a 20-point loss.

But despite the score, there's still no lack of confidence among the Montclair players.

"We didn't play with them when they went on their run," Hines-Allen said. "But they're a great team. They're going to go on runs every game. We will beat them if we push ourselves, if we really, truly believe."

The teams meet again in Super Essex Conference-American play Feb. 18 at MHS, in a game that could decide the league title.

For the game to have any implications on the division champion, Montclair will have to likely run the table in league play; they took a big step towards that goal with Tuesday's 45-44 win at East Orange.

The Mounties travel to Newark Tech tonight (Feb. 6) and host Mount St. Dominic on Tuesday.